Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in First BanCorp. or Grupo Cibest S.A. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.
Read on to learn how First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.
About First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A.
First BanCorp. operates as the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides financial products and services to consumers and commercial customers. It operates through six segments: Mortgage Banking; Consumer (Retail) Banking; Commercial and Corporate Banking; Treasury and Investments; United States Operations; and Virgin Islands Operations. The Mortgage Banking segment engages in the origination, sale, and servicing of various residential mortgage loans; hedging activities; purchase of mortgage loans from branch and mortgage bankers; and origination of residential real estate loans. The Consumer (Retail) Banking segment is involved in consumer lending, commercial lending to small businesses, commercial transaction banking, and deposit-taking activities. The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment offers lending and other services, including commercial lending and commercial deposit-taking activities. The Treasury and Investments segment manages funding; and obtains funds through brokered deposits, advances from the FHLB, and repurchase agreements involving investment securities, among other funding sources. The United States Operations segment provides checking, savings, and money market accounts; retail CDs; internet banking services; residential mortgages; home equity loans and lines of credit; retail deposits; cash management services; remote data capture; automated clearing house transactions; and traditional commercial and industrial, and commercial real estate products, such as lines of credit, term loans, and construction loans. The Virgin Islands Operations segment focuses on consumer and commercial lending, and deposit-taking activities. The company also offers automobile financing and insurance agency services. First BanCorp. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Grupo Cibest S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Colombia and internationally. It offers deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, fixed-term deposits, and investment products; credit alternatives solutions such as trade financing, working capital loans, mortgages, credit cards, personal, vehicle, payroll, and small business loans, and overdrafts; and factoring. It also provides financial and operating leases; capital markets, such as hedging instruments; trading, including interbank lending, repurchase agreements, foreign exchange transactions, and sovereign and corporate securities trading, brokerage and investment advisory services, access to local and international capital markets, and third-party asset management, as well as cash management, payables and receivables solutions, real-time web services, and SWIFT Net solutions. In addition, it provides foreign currency investment and trade finance solutions such as letters of credit and bills collection; bancassurance and insurance; and investment banking services include project finance, acquisition finance, large corporate loans, loan syndication, debt and equity capital markets, principal investments, mergers and acquisitions, and advisory on hedging strategies and restructurings. Further, it offers trust and fiduciary services, escrow accounts, investment funds, and real estate funds; and Nequi digital platform. Additionally, it provides roadside and medical assistance services; and BRE-b, mortgage lending innovations, payments through wompi, inflation-indexed sustainability loans, and Salud para ti. It serves physical branches, mobile branches, ATMs, online, computer, telephone, and mobile banking, banking correspondents, kiosks, and direct business connections. The company was formerly known as Bancolombia S.A. and changed its name to Grupo Cibest S.A. in May 2025. The company was founded in 1875 and is based in Medellín, Colombia.
Latest Banks and First BanCorp., Grupo Cibest S.A. Stock News
As of September 2, 2026, First BanCorp. had a $4.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $750.0 million. First BanCorp.’s stock is up 37.4% in 2026, up 2.8% in the previous five trading days and up 29.18% in the past year.
Currently, First BanCorp.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.0. First BanCorp.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $954.2 million with a 39.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.397 per share for the current fiscal year. First BanCorp. currently has a 2.8% dividend yield.
As of September 2, 2026, Grupo Cibest S.A. had a $24.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 88th percentile of all stocks. Grupo Cibest S.A.’s stock is up 58.9% in 2026, up 2.5% in the previous five trading days and up 97.33% in the past year.
Currently, Grupo Cibest S.A.’s price-earnings ratio is 41.4. Grupo Cibest S.A.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $7.4 billion with a 17.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 49.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.677 per share for the current fiscal year. Grupo Cibest S.A. currently has a 1.7% dividend yield.
How We Compare First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. Stock Grades
Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.
AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.
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First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. Growth Grades
| Company | Ticker | Growth |
| First BanCorp. | FBP | B |
| Grupo Cibest S.A. | CIB | F |
The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.
In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.
The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.
First BanCorp. has a Growth Score of 64, which is Strong.
Grupo Cibest S.A. has a Growth Score of 20, which is Very Weak.
The Growth Grade Winner: First BanCorp.
As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, First BanCorp. has a more attractive growth grade than Grupo Cibest S.A.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, First BanCorp. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A.’s Momentum Grades
| Company | Ticker | Momentum |
| First BanCorp. | FBP | B |
| Grupo Cibest S.A. | CIB | A |
Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.
Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.
First BanCorp. has a Momentum Score of 71, which is Strong.
Grupo Cibest S.A. has a Momentum Score of 91, which is Very Strong.
The Momentum Grade Winner: Grupo Cibest S.A.
As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Grupo Cibest S.A. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to First BanCorp.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Grupo Cibest S.A. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.
First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A.’s Estimate Revisions Grades
| Company | Ticker | Earnings Estimate |
| First BanCorp. | FBP | B |
| Grupo Cibest S.A. | CIB | B |
Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).
Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.
First BanCorp. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 66, which is Positive.
Grupo Cibest S.A. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 67, which is Positive.
The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!
Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether First BanCorp. or Grupo Cibest S.A. is a better fit.
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Other First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. Grades
In addition to Momentum, Growth and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Quality.
Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.
AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.
These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.
So, Which Is the Better Investment, First BanCorp. or Grupo Cibest S.A. Stock?
Overall, First BanCorp. stock has a Growth Score of 64, Momentum Score of 71 and Estimate Revisions Score of 66.
Grupo Cibest S.A. stock has a Growth Score of 20, Momentum Score of 91 and Estimate Revisions Score of 67.
Comparing First BanCorp. and Grupo Cibest S.A.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.
Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.
A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.
AAII Disclaimer
We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.
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